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Ed Sheeran joins line up of 1,000 artists playing refugee solidarity concerts

20 July 2017, 16:00 UTC

Fans can apply here to win tickets to see Ed Sheeran's living room show in Washington D.C. on 20 September, USA.

Amnesty International and Sofar Sounds have announced that Ed Sheeran is delighted to play in their global concert series Give a Home. Taking place in cities all over the world on 20 September 2017, Sheeran’s announcement comes just ahead of the next bulk of additional major artists to be announced in early August.

Speaking about joining the lineup, Ed said, “We all deserve a home, not just the memory of one. That’s why I’m proud to join Amnesty International and Sofar’s Give a Home campaign in raising awareness for the global refugee crisis and funds for Amnesty’s important work."

Give a Home will see music fans around the world open up their homes to host intimate concerts in more than 60 countries worldwide. The aim of the mass day of concerts is to unite people in showing solidarity with refugees. The locations of the gigs will be kept secret until closer to the day.

Sheeran will play a Give a Home gig in Washington D.C., USA. Playing alongside him will be Jean-Jean Bashengezi (‘JAJA’) a guitarist, singer and refugee who now lives in Washington. Bashengezi’s music draws influence from his roots in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was forced to flee in 1994 when his country descended into deadly conflict following the Rwandan genocide.

We all deserve a home, not just the memory of one. That’s why I’m proud to join Amnesty International and Sofar’s Give a Home campaign in raising awareness for the global refugee crisis and funds for Amnesty’s important work.

The concert series is a collaboration between Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, and Sofar Sounds, a London-based company that specializes in throwing secret concerts in people’s homes all over the world.

With more than 22 million people now forced to flee their home country, the aim of the ambitious concert series is to unite people in showing solidarity with refugees. More than 300 events are lined up to take place all on one day. Each event will feature performances from two to three music artists, as well as talks from activists to highlight the solutions people are working on to address the refugee crisis.

Give a Home is supported by VICE and Facebook Live, who will be live-streaming and promoting the concerts globally.

Fans have until 10 September to apply for tickets through sofarsounds.com/giveahome. From the site, people will be able to select their city and the event of their choice to be in with a chance of winning two tickets. They will have the option of making a donation when applying for tickets.

The funds raised by the project will support Amnesty International’s work in documenting human rights abuses and violations against refugees and pushing governments to find a sustainable solution to the refugee crisis.

Tackling the global refugee crisis

The refugee crisis affects the lives of more than 22 million people worldwide. Almost all are hosted outside the wealthiest nations, which simply aren’t doing their fair share to help. Currently just 10 of the world’s 193 countries host more than half its refugees.

Amnesty International’s ‘I Welcome’ campaign calls on all governments to do more to ensure refugees are protected and able to enjoy their human rights, including by expanding safe and legal routes through which refugees can reach shelter, exposing deterrence policies that negatively impact the rights of refugees and ending the practice of detaining and returning refugees to places where they will be at risk. The campaign also aims to build grassroots solidarity with refugees, including through community-led programs to sponsor refugees.